Not A Hero
by Mononoke-hime x sukai kurora
Summary: "The true measure of a shinobi is not how he lives, but how he dies." Coda to chapter 629.


_Not A Hero_

Nohara Rin hadn't thought that she would die so young. She had been born when the Second Shinobi World War was waning, and so she hadn't thought about death and mortality until Obito had died. His death had somehow woke her up, made her senses sharper, and made her realize how _fragile _life was. When the classmates she had laughed and cried with visited the memorial stone with Obito's name freshly carved, Rin observed how most of them believed that death wouldn't have happened to them if they had been in her teammates' place. That ongoing rebuke had made her dark with anger. Sitting in the grass behind her house, Rin's thoughts had calmed as she stared at the star that was her lost teammate. Her father had told her many times that he liked to look at the stars because it was as if he was gazing at the faces of his lost comrades again – comrades that he had lost in the Second Shinobi World War. As a child, Rin had watched as her father had simply stared at the sky for hours on end, and had wondered why. Now she knew. Rin herself had spent time gazing at the stars weeks and months after Obito's death as much as Kakashi visited the Memorial Stone. It made the Uchiha's death seem less real somehow. She could actually hear his voice, and the laugh that he had always had.

It was there, staring at the stars, that Rin realized that the others were not talking about how weak Obito had been, but that they believed they were immortal. _No one is immortal, _Rin thought as a gust of wind blew through her hair. _I could die too, even though your last wish for Kakashi was to keep me safe. Right, Obito? _For once the stars did not give Rin the comfort that she sought, and so she walked inside with an empty heart.

She hadn't thought that her death would be soon. She thought that she would be able to have more time with everyone, but that was not to be. Rin had been kidnapped before when she and her teammates had destroyed the Kanabi Bridge, but despite the newfound strength awakened post Obito's death, Rin hadn't been able to free herself from her captors. She had been blindfolded so she couldn't see their faces or know where she was going. Rin's thoughts were only on Kakashi and the failed mission; they were supposed to retrieve a secret document from Kirigakure, and now that she was kidnapped, the mission would be forsaken. _"Obito…he loved you…you were his only one. He gave his life to protect you. I…I deserted you. I'm nothing but scum. That's what he tells me before every mission, _Rin thought as her blindfold dampened with her tears. _He tells me that's what Obito would hav_e_ done…but if I had b_e_en stronger, Obito would have been alive and he would have been able to confess his feelings for me. _She had gnawed on her lips then until blood flowed free. _Darn it…why do I have to be so…_weak_? _Her eyes were swollen and red when they finally removed the blindfold and untied her bindings. The Kirigakure ANBU had stated that she was going to become their jinchuukiri of the _Sanbi_, the Three Tails, and once the seal was removed, they were going to destroy Konohagakure. She remembered of how she had fought the Kirigakure shinobi that had tried to restrain her with tooth and nail. But they had been too strong for her, and a blow to the head had caused her to go into unconsciousness. When she had awoke, Rin was no more than Kirigakure's plaything. Their pawn. She was now a jinchuukirki had at their disposal. Although they had taught her to control the _Sanbi _to an extent, Rin knew that their ultimate goal was to attack and destroy Konohagakure. Rin had spent many nights hugging her knees and crying at the thought of how _helpless _she was to stop the destruction that was to come. She thought of beloved her mother and father, Minato-_sensei_, Kakashi, and of Obito. _My clumsy and genuine teammate wanted Kakashi to keep me safe from harm, but here I am bearing a monster that will destroy everything that he sacrificed himself for. _One lonely night Rin thought of what she could do. For a shameful moment, she balked. _I must do this..._ Rin thought as she saw the Kirigakure hidden in the trees as she saw Kakashi's form running to her, and again when she told him that he must kill her.

"_I swore to Obito…that I'd protect you no matter what…what you're asking me to do is impossible…I'll find another way." _Kakashi had understood what Rin had said, but was unwilling to accept that she was willing to sacrifice her life and break the promise he had made to their dear friend and teammate. She had thought of how Obito had sacrificed his life for his teammates, and of how she knew that he would do the same over and over again if he needed to. _He wouldn't want me to live if everyone else had died._ Rin didn't feel afraid as she jumped in front of Kakashi's _Raikiri,_ or anything. She didn't see the shock on Kakashi's face or feel the cowardly tears streaking down her cheeks. She didn't feel the blood oozing out of her wound and flowing on the ground, or of the name on her lips. She only thought of Konohagakure burning, and the people she loved enveloped in flames. She thought of how Obito had died without regret. The name was on her lips again, and although her lungs were dying, and her eyesight fading, she thought of how the Uchiha had died a hero. _I wish he had smiled._

"Kakashi…" she whispered. _…I did this for Obito._ But her body did not allow her to complete what she wanted to say, and so Nohara Rin collapsed on the ground, drowning in her own blood. Rin didn't think of how guilt-ridden Kakashi would be, or of how her parents would grieve from her death, or even the fact that her name would not be whispered on tongues long after her death. She was not a hero. Rin had protected those she had loved, and Konohagakure. She did what was right for once, and that had made her smile briefly before her last breath left her.

_Now I can see him again, proudly…_


End file.
